Alexandra & Ward – Reviewed

by Anuki Premachandra

Fancy Dining at a Fashion Café

Alexandra & Ward café is acclaimed a “fashion café”, and though at first look it makes you wonder what a “fashion” café necessarily  meant, one step into the place and your questions are answered. It’s such a beautiful concept executed to create an even better dining establishment that’s one of its kind.

Alexandra & Ward Café is the brainchild of the renowned Darshan Munidasa and the combined restaurants at the cafe are both his. Partnered with Oro 1889, which does the mouthwatering pizza’s at Alexandra & Ward, there’s Nihonbashi which serves up a delectable Japanese cuisine. Moreover, we were told that all the salads and dishes served here are specially designed by Darshan, to which he has added a healthy touch! The theme and setting rests on a minimal but chic note and style of interior. The place can be described as an upper-end food court where you can order food from either Nihonbashi or Oro 1889, and drinks from their neighbor Sugar, all under one roof. Speaking of roofs, we sat under a massive and beautifully lit up bird cage. This huge piece of architecture adds a fairytale-whim to the place.  

Food and Drinks

Drinks (courtesy of Sugar): Tom Yum Daiquiri – Rs. 650 and Arrack Sour – Rs.600

We loved the Tom Yum Daiquiri! No complains, a great classic.

The Arrack Sour would be a great drink if you were to start the night with it because it tasted more lime than alcohol. This kind of put it on the Mocktail end.

Appetizers: Roman Salad with A la minute grilled salmon – Rs. 1200, Chicken liver patè – Rs. 500 and Baked Crab – Rs. 800

The Roman Salad was a healthy mix of tossed greens, tomatoes and egg quarters, with a drizzle of original olive oil based salad dressing. You know they give priority to presentation and quality of the dish because the tomatoes, salmon and eggs were beautifully lined one after the other on top of the greens. The taste of the salmon seemed to have made its way into the greens and when a mouthful was accompanied with a chunk of hard boiled eggs, you know they’ve given you a run for your money. The salmon was exemplary. It had the char-grill taste in its outer layer but the inside is so smooth and delicate and paired perfectly with the heavily olive oil drizzled salad.

The chicken liver patè is apparently made to Darshan’s secret recipe and the menu guarantees that it contains no dairy (Phew, red light averted). We settled for the non-healthy accompaniment of garlic bread. You can opt for veges instead – and you should. The patè was pretty and tasted like fresh, meaty liver. They definitely got the texture right. It goes smooth on the garlic bread and doesn’t clump up or drizzle down. For an appetizer, the portion is enough for two.

As the baked crab was brought to our table, we knew we were in for a ride. The two shells looked absolutely delicious sitting on a spoon of rice. It wasn’t the super creamy baked crab you would normally have, but we liked this alternative as much as we would a creamy baked crab. The meat was finely shredded and tossed in onions and then placed in the shell and baked. The only thing about it I didn’t find exciting was the rice. The rice did taste and feel a little dry and as if it were cooked days ago. The crabs though, had retained the taste of fresh seafood in them.

Mains – Ciro – Rs. 2200

The pizzas brought to you by Oro 1889 are made from slow-rising Italian sourdough and is cooked in a custom-made Neapolitan brick oven. The menu reads ‘The dough is hand stretched and made to order and is cooked in the oven which produces a temperature of 500°C. How exciting!

We picked the Ciro pizza, because it sounded absolutely appetizing with an abundance of tomato, mozzarella, Italian fresh sausage, aubergines and fresh red chili. Before we feasted on the pizza, the best way of eating a Neapolitan pizza was explained to us. You fold the pizza in half horizontally and then fold in it half vertically, making a pocket sized version of the slice. She told us that this was because this specific kind of pizza is much soggy and thinner towards the middle. The dough on the far ends are thicker and roti-like and slim down and are covered pools of cheese and meat towards the center. When you fold everything in, you get a good bit of the whole pizza and don’t have to deal with a mess on your table, which would have definitely occurred if we were to have the pizza like we usually would.

Dessert: Coffee Jelly – Rs.400 and Chocolate biscuit pudding – RS.200

The coffee jelly was a delightfully light jelly made from fresh ground coffee. Topped with a generous layer of whipped cream, and slammed into a tiny mug. The coffee jelly really was a good pick. If you’re a coffee enthusiast, then this is your dessert, but if you’re looking for something more sweeter and less strong, then I suggest you don’t go with this option.

At Rs.200 for an individual portion of Chocolate biscuit puffing, we were blown away by its taste. The petite chocolate biscuit pudding is made using decadent Belgian dark chocolate, and you can choose from a range of toppings including diced strawberries, whipped charm, dark chocolate or pani kadju. Being the Sri Lankan’s we were, we opted for the pani kadju. As you dwell into the first bite of the chocolate biscuit pudding, you immediately taste the really rich and thick Belgian chocolate. The pani kadju did work as a better topping and the layers of the chocolate biscuit pudding were beautifully defined.

Service

Their service particularly stood out because the waiters were so attentive and would rush to you at the raise of a finger. We were pleasantly impressed with their speed of service and cordiality. They brought our appetizers to the table in under 10 minutes and this is a very rare occurrence in places around Colombo. They really stunned us when they brought our dessert to the table in about 3 mins after we gave the order. The waitress told us that the desserts were made daily and stored and was served when needed.

Have you tried Alexandra & Ward Café yet? Let us know what you think of it in the comments below! Is there anything we’ve missed?

Tip: Fold the pizza into a pocket when having it. Yes, it makes a massive difference.